Hyundai launched its first modern-era EV, the Ioniq 5, as a statement of intent. Whether it's its uncompromising retro-futurism, its state-of-the-art fast charging performance or the surprising balance of comfort, quickness and composed handling on the road, the Ioniq 5 defies expectations for a typical EV and—if you haven't been tracking the car market for the past decade—a Hyundai.
Perhaps the one area where the Ioniq 5 does not trailblaze is its infotainment system. At a time when nearly every manufacturer is coming for your attention with giant screens and flashy video-game-quality graphics, the Ioniq 5's Audio Video Navigation 5.0 (AVN 5) Wide setup remains —perhaps refreshingly—simple and distraction-free. It may be fairly big, but for such an advanced EV, it’s rather conventional.
Infotainment systems are typically hard to review. Learning the system can take more than a few days, and learning it is not living with it. Fortunately, I've lived with the Ioniq 5's infotainment for the past month, since I just leased a 2024 SEL AWD model.
What are the Hyundai Ioniq 5 graphics and interfaces like?
The Ioniq 5's infotainment does not foreshadow the post-driving future. Hyundai designed it to be functional for the here and now with—at least in one sense—minimal distraction. The Ioniq 5 has two 12.3-inch displays, one an instrument cluster and the other a touchscreen infotainment setup. Higher trim Ioniq 5s also have a head-up display, which my car does not have.
Hyundai does not want you to use this screen while driving. Clicking through the agreement not to let the screen distract you while driving brings you to a minimalist information “screensaver” showing you the range, battery status, map, weather and media currently playing. You must swipe through that to get to the main menu. Hyundai lets you choose a light or dark background. Icons either have a light or dark background with the same blue-to-green gradient.
I like that the screen is oriented horizontally rather than vertically. This orientation means the icons are wider and better spaced, the text is easier to read, and it takes less time to move your gaze from and back to the road. The horizontal orientation also allows the screen to easily segment into three displays showing a map, turn-by-turn navigation and audio simultaneously.
The downside is that all of the icons are the same color and the same color as the background. Theoretically, that may be less distracting as there's no cacophony of colors below eye level. In practice, it takes your brain much less time to register an Audible, Spotify or Google Maps logo than to scan icons and read text. Even after weeks of driving, I still have no visual reckoning for where any functions are—and that takes my eyes off the road.
Also, my 2024 Ioniq 5 is capable of over-the-air updates for infotainment features and maps, but the updated 2025 model seems to offer far more capability in that department than we’ve seen so far. Until now those updates have been fairly limited on this model. That car also gets more physical buttons and a few other tweaks, so we will update this review when we get actual seat time with it. Additionally, the new Ioniq 5 N performance model builds on this setup, but has a huge suite of performance-focused features and apps on its own.
What are the Ioniq 5 physical interfaces like?
The Ioniq 5 is a Hyundai, not a Genesis. So there's no pop-up shift orb and a lack of obsessive knurling on metal switchgear. But beyond that, Hyundai laid the controls out masterfully. Everything is intuitive and accessible to the driver. And it balances the Tesla-style minimalism without leaning too hard on the touchscreen and sacrificing function for aesthetics.
Hyundai located driving functions where they should be: on the wheel. The drive mode button—an actual button, not a touchscreen menu—is just below the airbag. Paddle shifters adjust the regenerative braking. Hyundai did plasticize the steering wheel functions into giant buttons. But they are not haptic, so you don't inadvertently activate something mid-corner.
The climate controls are haptic, but it's one of the better setups I've used. The icons are well-spaced and easily visible, with no goofy sliders. An array of metal toggles and buttons provides quick access to frequently used screen menus like media and navigation and allows you to cycle through Sirius XM stations.
Voice control requires a button press on the steering wheel, but it works well once you get to them. I find pressing a button more consistent and quicker to activate it than yelling the key phrase at the dashboard, especially when it’s coded to the make of the car. Too many of these activate now when you say “BMW” or whatever.
How is Hyundai's smartphone integration?
Smartphone activation was the first thing I did with my Ioniq 5. The dealership tasked me with setting up the MyHyundai app while processing my paperwork. And the obligatory salesperson run-through necessitated pairing my phone to Bluetooth.
The native setup over Bluetooth works well. Within a minute or two on my ride home, I was listening to my mildly embarrassing dragon-centered fantasy novel and calling my wife. I've used the MyHyundai app once to honk and flash the lights when my dad brain forgot where I parked in a garage.
The biggest issue is setting up Apple Carplay (which I mostly use) and Android Auto. You're partying like it's the pre-COVID era. The connection is wired, not wireless. And the Ioniq 5 forces you to fish out an old USB-A connector rather than a faster USB-C. I don't mind a wired connection. But with the floating console and bank space, there's no natural place to put the phone. I usually end up stashing in the slot in the cupholders (risking it taking flight under hard braking) or tossing it onto the passenger seat.
The good news is that on the updated 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5, which should go on sale in the U.S. later this year, they finally added wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It’ll be a welcome change.
What about route planning and other EV-specific features?
The Ioniq 5 offers EV-specific route planning through the navigation system and it works reasonably well for a one-stop road trip. You input your destination. The car recognizes the destination exceeds the range. It then prompts you with fast-charging options along the route with estimates on the charge time to get to 80%. Hyundai does not let you pre-condition the battery manually; it's dependent on the internal navigation system to activate. So you must use it to get an optimal charge rate while road-tripping in colder weather.
Planning a lengthy, multiple-charge route is more cumbersome. Hyundai lets you add additional stops, but you must search for them. You don't get the neatly planned route Tesla can provide in seconds. Hyundai's navigation isn't as responsive to real-time traffic as the native Google Maps in Android-based systems.
The charging process could be dialed in more. Searching out chargers on the road can be a challenge. Hyundai's system has EV chargers bookmarked as a point of interest for easy searching. But you can't filter or sort them by speed to find fast chargers. The second-closest 350 kW charger to my house is an Electrify America charger (where I get free 30-minute charges). But I had no way of knowing that as the search results clogged with every slow Level 2 charger that was closer.
The Ioniq 5 could also use a better static window to track the charging from the vehicle. The window with that information pops up when you enter the car but swiftly disappears. I could find the percentage by turning on the infotainment and going to the main EV menu. But I've resorted to exiting the vehicle to look at the charger to get the full story about what's happening.
Verdict
Hyundai's AVN 5 Wide system isn't perfect in the Ioniq 5. But it's simple and minimalist, and helps you stay focused on the road. It passes the fundamental benchmark for a car infotainment system: most owners will be able to use the functions they use most often—radio, climate, navigation—with minimal aggravation or Google searching.
Hyundai's menu graphics could be more distinct. And the EV functions need some revamping to keep up with the competition. The next-generation operating system should make those tweaks.
